Farmers' organizations in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania seek for a rapid change in the conservation state of the Barnacle Goose in the EU Birds Directive and the Berne Convention. The farmers’ organizations strive to speed up the state of the Barnacle Goose to be hunted by sending a letter to the EU Commissioner of Environment, Oceans and Fisheries as well as to the national Ministers on 11 June 2021.

According to the organizations, the Barnacle Goose should be included in the Birds Directive as a huntable species, and the population management should be allowed by the Berne Convention.

The situation is economically and socially unsustainable

Since the adoption of the Berne Convention and the Birds Directive, the state of the Barnacle Goose population has significantly increased, exceeding the favorable conservation state of the species more than tripled. The number of the Barnacle Goose has increased 30-fold from the 1980s to the 2010s. By 2023, the population is already estimated to be 2.4 million birds, and is estimated to remain strong.

Moreover, the Barnacle Goose may cause very significant agricultural damage in all the Nordic and Baltic countries, and the total amount of damage is rapidly growing. Typically, the amount of damage per country is several million euros per year. The total amount of damage on an individual farm may be even tens of thousands of euros.

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